Whitesail Reach Woodland Caribou Habitat Restoration Project

The first phase of the Whitesail Reach Woodland Caribou Restoration Project will prepare site-specific prescriptions and a project plan to manage timber and woody debris along the shoreline of Whitesail Reach. The objective of these efforts will be to help restore critical migration routes for the Tweedsmuir-Entiakio Caribou (TEC) herd. TEC are part of the Northern Mountain population, designated as a species of Special Concern in Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and a blue-listed species by the BC Conservation Data Centre.

Whitesail Reach is part of the historical migration route for the TEC and contains critical calving islands for the herd. Currently, there is a considerable risk of abandonment of this migration route by the TEC in part due to large accumulations of large woody debris (LWD) which have created barriers to traditionally used calving and escape habitats. The loss of this critical calving area may impact calf survival and herd recovery. This collaborative project will create the approach and activities that will be undertaken by the project partners to manage woody debris within Whitesail Reach. Multiple sites within Whitesail Reach that have been selected as restoration candidates and operational activities are planned for the late summer between August and October 2019.